Thanks everyone for your encouraging comments. Littleladyluxe, you can buy kits from sewing shops to make covered buttons. For the ones I made you cut out a circle of fabric and run some tiny stitches around the outside to gather the fabric around the post and then you slide a little plastic ring on to hold it in place. I think there are other types available.

Instant Glamour: 6 NEW Women's Plus Patterns

BurdaStyle is a DIY fashion and sewing community. Our aim is to bring the craft of sewing to a new generation of fashion designers, hobbyists, DIY'ers, and inspire fashion enthusiasts. We offer downloadable PDF sewing patterns, project ideas, tutorials and a community passionate about fashion. Press coverage on BurdaStyle can be found here.